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Middlebrooks, Sox pound Blue Jays

TORONTO (AP) -- Boston's Will Middlebrooks swung the bat so well Sunday, he even got an unwanted visit from a fan who came out of the stands to congratulate him.

Red Sox 13, Blue Jays 0

Middlebrooks hit three home runs, two off NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey, and the Red Sox routed the Toronto Blue Jays 13-0.

"He had about 2,000 feet of homers," Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester said of Middlebrooks. "He obviously feels pretty good at the plate. It's fun to watch."

Middlebrooks went 4 for 5 with four RBIs. He hit two home runs off Dickey, a two-run shot to right in the first inning and a solo drive into the second deck in left in the fifth. He connected again off Dave Bush with a leadoff longball to left in the seventh, the first three homer game of his career.

Mike Napoli added a two-run shot, and Jacoby Ellsbury and Daniel Nava also went deep as the Red Sox connected for six homers and set season highs for runs and hits (15), one day after getting just two hits in a 5-0 loss.

In the bottom of the ninth, a fan jumped out of the stands and ran toward Middlebrooks at third base, his hand extended. Security tackled the fan and dragged him off the field.

"He said he was happy to meet me and then he got tackled," Middlebrooks said. "He started to say something else and then he got drilled. That was a good tackle.

"He got pretty close," Middlebrooks added. "I didn't know if he was going to make it. I was trying to time it out of the corner of my eye.

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I was like 'Am I going to have to shake this guy's hand?"'

Middlebrooks, who doubled and scored in the third, flied out to the left field warning track in his final at-bat in the eighth.

"I was blowing on it running down the line but it didn't have enough steam," he said.

Limited to 75 games as a rookie because of a broken right hand, the Red Sox have high hopes for Middlebrooks this year, his second big league season.

"We're counting on him to be a big run producer," former MVP Dustin Pedroia said. "He's got that ability."

Nava went back-to-back with Middlebrooks in the seventh, a homer that bounced off the top of the wall in center field and went out. It's the first time this season the Red Sox have hit consecutive home runs.

Ellsbury had three hits, including a leadoff homer into the second deck in right in the eighth, his first. Three batters later, Napoli capped the rout with a home run to center, his second. He finished with four RBIs.

Boston jumped on Dickey in the first, scoring five runs before the knuckleballer had recorded an out.

Dickey (0-2) allowed eight runs -- seven earned -- and 10 hits in 42/3 innings. It was his shortest start and the most runs he'd allowed since giving up eight runs in 41/3 innings last April 18.

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